Private contractors are working to upgrade the major road and rail infrastructure to a section of Powell Street, just west of Clark Drive.

Project details

Location

800-1200 block Powell St (from Hawks Ave to Clark Dr)

Expected duration

Start: Monday, June 24, 2013

End: Early August 2014

Hours of work

Monday through Saturday, 7:00am to 5:00pm

Status

Completed

Impacts to traffic, parking, and businesses

Traffic on Powell Street between Hawks Avenue and Clark Drive will be closed to all traffic during construction.

Businesses will remain open and local access maintained at all times.

Local parking may be affected by the presence of work trailers and equipment. Temporary parking restrictions will be removed as soon as they are no longer needed.

Local traffic control plan

City staff have worked closely with transportation consultants to reduce the impact of closing the section of Powell Street between Hawks and Clark.

We encourage the use of alternate routes but are not recommending a specific detour.

Please consider alternative modes of transportation, such as public transit (bus or skytrain) to avoid potential road congestion.

Pro-active road network modifications

We are making proactive modifications to the Hastings/Clark and Clark/Powell intersections to increase capacity and manage travel time delays at two key intersections.

These include:

Building an additional right turn bay for the southbound Clark to westbound Hastings route

Optimizing the traffic signal timing and operation, to facilitate the northbound Clark to eastbound Powell, and westbound Powell to southbound Clark routes

We are also installing traffic calming measures (four traffic diverters) along the Adanac/Union bikeway between Commercial and Raymur to minimize the number of cars taking shortcuts through the neighbourhood and any impact to this cycling route.

Data collection and monitoring program

Staff have collected baseline, pre-closure traffic statistics for over 50 surrounding arterial and local street locations. We will collect more volume statistics during the first two weeks after the closure, and then compare the before and after data to understand how diverted traffic has impacted the area.

This will allow us to make changes and respond as required to community or business concerns.

How this project will improve the city

Improves transit and vehicle movement in the Powell Street Corridor, as well as pedestrian and cycling routes to ensure they are safe, convenient and comfortable for people.

Allows for expanded capacity and improved efficiency of the rail network to support trade and goods movement through Port Metro Vancouver.

Replaces the level crossing near Raymur Street and accommodates four lanes of vehicular traffic, two pedestrian sidewalks and a counter-flow bike lane.

City contact

Learn more about Powell Street Overpass Project

This project will make it safer and easier for people to navigate the area along Powell St just west of Clark Dr. It will also expand and improve the rail network that supports cargo movement to and from Vancouver's port.